Branding is perhaps the most important facet of any business or product. A company's brand is its definition in the world, the name that identifies it to itself and the marketplace. A brand provides a concrete descriptor to customers and competitors alike, a name for a product or service to distinguish it from anything else.

Branding is not only your logo but also your business name. Great names evoke intrigue, savvy and class, and tell customers a lot about who you are.

Developing a brand involves more than just picking a catchy name and placing an ad in the newspaper-a brand is more than a unique string of letters denoting a particular product; a successful brand is a trigger that makes a consumer feel a certain way when the brand is thought of.

Some Basic Branding Tips

• Your brand (name) should be easy to remember, pronounced over the phone and should be the same as your domain name. Your slogan should say exactly what you do or at least what field you are operating in. If not, your logo design should handle this task.


• Make sure you have custom made business cards and stationery that also walk in line with your brand identity. You will realize their effect and the good image a business card will reflect on your brand in addition to the awareness it will create.
  
  
• Your website should have a unified brand identity, which includes the Logo, Icon and a Favicon (most preferably the same as the icon). All these items should walk together, they should be using the same colours, fonts and concept.
  
  
• Use your @website e-mail, do not use free e-mails (Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail, etc…). Every time you send from a free e-mail there is a lost opportunity that, the recipient is visiting your site and that, the word about your website is being spread.
  
  
• Include a Link to your website within your signature in every single e-mail you send, you can also try Feedburner’s Email Signature, it’s pretty cool.
  
  
• Use Twitter and all the rest of your Social Networks to spread the word about your brand. You can check what people are saying about your brand (search option), and also keep in touch with the external world, whether customers or partners.
  
  
• Presence on related communities will help you build your brand. Commenting on competitors’ blogs and forums will create huge brand awareness of your brand
  

Branding is not marketing. Rather it is an integral part of your marketing strategy. It's also an important part of how you interact with clients, prospects, vendors, employees, and anyone else with whom you come in contact. Branding creates an image.

Be consistent. Too many businesses don't respect this simple consistency rule. They end up with five or six variations on their logo causing dilution of their brand, confusing their customer base and projecting an unorganised business ethic. You need to be able to reassure your customers and simplicity is the key. Your messages may be complex, but the way you communicate them needs to be simple and consistent.